How Technology has Increase the Productivity of Mobile Employees

Over the last couple of decades technology has played an important role in making things easier for employees who need to travel for their work. Technology has led to improved communication, both internally and with customers, and has increased productivity.

Mobile Phones

There was a time when communication between mobile employees and their colleagues and customers was difficult. Often communication required planning in advance. If an employee had to contact their office they might have needed to find a telephone box to make a call. While this might not have been particularly complex it was hardly ideal and it would have been much more difficult in reverse. If someone needed to contact a mobile employee urgently they may have had no way of achieving this.

The mobile phone has come to the rescue. They were first used by business people in the nineteen-eighties, but it wasn’t really until the late nineteen-nineties that they became the norm. Because of mobile phones travelling employees can now be contacted at any time. If every employee has one, which they generally do, then any two employees can get hold of one another easily. Contacting and being contacted by customers is just as easy.

Laptops

The development of laptop computers has revolutionised the way in which mobile employees can operate. They don’t have to take stacks of paperwork everywhere they go, it makes presentations easier and they can access any information they have stored quickly and easily.

The Internet

The internet has made business easier in many ways. These days it is the prime tool that businesses use to carry out research, and if travelling, it can be accessed using a laptop or mobile device, such as a smart phone or a tablet. If an employee needs to quickly research something while on the move, then they can.

Email

Email is the biggest example of how mobile business people use the internet to increase their productivity. Email has had a significant impact on business communication in general and is a good way of communicating with employees who are on the move. If they need a document it can be instantaneously sent and received.

VPN and Other Security Barriers

Virtual private networks and other security barriers make accessing the internet and computer networks much safer. There are many security concerns related to accessing a network, especially if using a wi-fi connection. This can, to a large extent, be alleviated using a VPN or another method of security. Making networks secure is just as important as having them to begin with.

Video Conferencing

Using the right technology means that employees can have conferences wherever they may be. For example, using their laptop they can have a video conference with someone in another location. They can also communicate from various offices with those who are elsewhere. As well as improving the productivity of employees on the move, in some cases it can make travelling less of a requirement. There are times when a video conference can be used instead of a face-to-face meeting.

Technology is constantly making it easier for businesses that have employees who regularly travel. It has had a massive impact on how such employees operate on a day-to-day basis. Over the coming years we can expect new technologies to come to the fore to further increase productivity.

Andrew Marshall ©